1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hard magnetic alloy compact and a method of producing such compact, which compact is excellent in magnetic characteristics so that it is applicable to motors, actuators, speakers, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, sintered Fe--Nd--B magnets, quenched Fe--Nd--B magnets, and the like are known as magnetic materials superior to ferrite magnets. In addition, new types of alloy magnets such as Fe--Sm--N magnets have been investigated for achieving more superior characteristics.
However, production costs of these magnetic materials are higher than that of the ferrite magnets, since they must contain 10 atomic % of Nd or 8 atomic % of Sm, in other words, large quantities of expensive rare earth elements are necessary.
Meanwhile, although the production cost of ferrite magnets is low, they have insufficient magnetic characteristics.
Therefore, a low-cost magnetic material having superior hard magnetic characteristics to those of ferrite magnets is in demand.
In general, to form a magnetic material powder into a certain shape, the powder is mixed with a binder such as rubber or plastic and subjected to compression molding or injection molding. Magnets produced by such methods are known as bond magnets and are widely used in electronic parts and the like because the magnets can be molded into various shapes. However, the magnetic characteristics of such bond magnets are disadvantageously lower than those of sintered magnets and the like, since the relative density of magnetic material in the magnet is reduced by the existence of binders.